Chicken Eggplant Parm Stuffed Peppers
Chicken Eggplant Parm Stuffed Peppers
A colorful year-round dish that will please the whole family, even the pickiest of eaters!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 6 bell peppers of any color (or multicolor!)
- Half a vidalia onion, diced
- 1/2 c chopped carrots
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 TBSP + 1/4 cup oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 TBSP tomato paste
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 small graffiti eggplant, sliced in rounds
- 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 lb mozzarella cubed, a few TBSPs grated
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut off the tops of peppers and discard inner seeds + membranes. Set aside the tops for serving later. Cook the whole peppers, uncovered in boiling water for about 5 minutes, drain and cool. Season insides of the peppers lightly with salt.
- Step 2 Season ground chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add onions and sauté them until translucent. Add the carrots & garlic to the heated pan, along with the ground chicken. Cook until the chicken is completely browned throughout. We like to let ours crisp up a bit, so I would recommend stirring minimally. While the chicken cooks, you can prep the eggplant.
- Step 3 Dip the eggplant rounds in egg, then dredge in breadcrumbs. Coat another skillet completely with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Add eggplant and fry until golden brown over medium-high heat, 3 min per side. Remove to cool, then dice up the fried eggplant.
- Step 4 Back to the chicken. Once browned, make a well in the center of the pan. Add the paste and allow to thicken. If you find the mixture isn’t moist, you can add up to 1/4 cup water. Remove from the heat.
- Step 5 Now stuff your peppers. Layer cheese on the bottom, then add a layer of diced eggplant. Add the ground chicken, cheese and eggplant, alternating layers. Top each pepper with one last layer of grated mozzarella. Place peppers in a glass baking dish and bake for 10 minutes. Serve warm, with the pepper tops if so desired.
I need to make a mental note that stuffed peppers are THE go-to for a fun and simple weeknight dinner. Earlier this year we made a Shepard’s Pie version with ground beef and cauliflower mash topping and I’ve really been meaning to make them again. This time around, Marc had the great inspiration to mix it up this time and try a “parm” version – but since we couldn’t decide between Chicken or Eggplant Parm, we married them both!
Crispy Ground Chicken:
Fried Eggplant:
Better Together!
At the outset it may seem like a lot of little steps, but I can vouch for the fact that start to finish this meal took only 30 minutes. While the chicken is cooking up on the stove, you can prep the other ingredients. And once you fill the peppers, you just have to pop them in the oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese since everything else is already cooked.
This is such a fun colorful meal, which makes it a real kid-pleaser too. It’s an easy way to get kids to eat their veggies and you can always hide ingredients inside so they’re less likely to find them, or push back. (Sneaky, I know!) Check out the cross-section, below. For all the busy mamas out there, I hope this meal is as much of a game-changer for you as it was for us. And check back for more variations to come!
